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Blood Upon The Pod Door
Blood Upon The Pod Door was a traditional cadence sung by airborne Troopers since the Second World War. Over the centuries of its existence, the lyrics have been changed significantly, adapted to the different evolutions of the airborne unit, but its tune has remained the same, an ancient and solemn melody known as Battle Hymn for a Republic. Today's ODST sings the verses transcribed below, which have been altered to fit his or her profession. While darkly humorous, the song serves as a warning to newly-inducted Shock Troopers to always make sure that they have checked their pod's systems before drop time so that they do not end up like the hapless rookie featured as the song's protagonist. Some units actually play this theme when they drop into battle, as a nod toward irony. Lyrics :He was just a rookie Trooper and he surely shook with fright :He checked off his equipment and made sure his seals were tight; :He had to sit and listen to those awful engines roar, :"You ain't gonna drop no more!" :(CHORUS) :Glory, glory, what a hell of a way to die, :Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, :Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, :He ain't gonna drop no more! :"Is everybody happy?" cried the Sergeant, checking up, :Our Hero feebly answered "Yes," and then they racked him up; :He dropped into the screaming black, his thrusters misaligned, :And he ain't gonna drop no more. :(CHORUS) :He counted long, he counted loud, he waited for the shock, :He felt the tear, he felt the heat, he heard the awful pop, :The twirling of his falling pod made 'im puke upon his legs, :And he ain't gonna drop no more. :(CHORUS) :The pod door caved into his chest, the pressure cracked his dome, :Fractured glass shot inward while the g-force broke his bones; :The HEV became his tomb as he hurtled to the ground. :And he ain't gonna drop no more. :(CHORUS) :The days he'd lived and loved and laughed kept runnin' through his mind, :He thought about the girl back home, the one he'd left behind; :He thought about the medic corps and wondered what they'd find, :And he ain't gonna drop no more. :(CHORUS) :The ambulance was on the spot, the 'Hogs were running wild, :The medics danced and whooped with glee, pulled on their gloves and smiled, :For it had been a week or two since last a pod had failed; :And he ain't gonna drop no more. :(CHORUS) :He hit the ground, the sound was "Crunch," debris went flying high, :His training mates were heard to say: "A hell of a way to die!" :He lay there, body melting, in the puddle of his guts, :And he ain't gonna drop no more. :(CHORUS) :(sung like a dirge) :There was blood upon the pod door, there were brains mixed in with soot, :Intestines were a'dangling from his ODST suit, :He was a wreck; they picked him up and poured him from his boots, :And he ain't gonna drop no more! :Glory, glory, what a hell of a way to die, :Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, :Gory, gory, what a hell of a way to die, :He ain't gonna drop no more! Procedure Each unit of ODSTs claims to have the "original" or "best" version of this particular song, and sometimes companies with different versions would be deployed alongside each other. When this happened, and song was to played or sung, tradition stated that the 'hosting' unit's version would be queued up. In the case of a marching cadence, a senior NCO or officer from the host unit would be called upon to sing the verses solo, while everyone would join in the common chorus. The 18/10 Shock Troops adopted this particular version, while the 11/6 Shock Troops preferred a version they called "Blood Upon His VISR". See Also *Blood Upon His VISR Behind the Scenes *The actual tune to which this is sung is The Battle Hymn of the Republic, but the author wanted to convey a sense of time passing, so he gave it a slightly different name in the article. *The original name for this adapted song is Blood Upon The Risers, often subtitled as "(Gory, Gory, What A Hell of A Way to Die)," and a recording of the original version can be found here. If a user is interested in learning even more about the origins of the song, additional information can be found on wikipedia.